Changing Rigs Again !!

Please feel free to describe your motorhome, campervan or caravan. (make, model, length etc)
nut17
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:38 am
Location: Hastings New Zealand

Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by nut17 »

Having got our new privately imported Elddis Supreme 860 Caravan modified to suit our requirements and on the road in August 2019, we made the mistake of attending a Caravan & Motorhome Expo in Ashburton in late February. Always bearing in mind that we were going to eventually go back to a motorhome in time, we stumbled across a rig, that although a little pricey seems to represent excellent value for money. A Winnebago ILUKA fresh out of the Apollo manufacturing plant in Brisbane. We are expecting delivery late June - early July. The only mods from factory supplied NZ spec will be fitting 6 x 190 watt mono "perc' solar panels and 400 Ah LiFePO4 battery. I have ordered 8 x 200 AH Prismatic cells from a local importer who is dealing with this https://yabopower.com/index.html company in China. They will be configured into four pairs to make up the 400 AH 12 volt pack. I am waiting for the van to arrive before purchasing the panels as I cannot guarantee that the roof hatches will be in exactly the same configuration as the demonstrator that I measured up. I have purchased a pair of my favoured SRNE 40 Amp MPPT controllers (with Lithium setting) Votronic battery computer with 200 AMP shunt and a 200 amp relay to automatically disconnect load at pre set 30% SOC. I also have one of those magic black box HA02 cell equaliser devices winging its way slowly from China via aliexpress. I will wait until the fallout from Covid 19 has settled before marketing our well set up Elddis caravan.
The Winnebago ILUKA ticked most of our boxes, firstly as it is built on an IVECO Daily 50 cab / chassis and will have a 1300 kg payload and a 3000 kg tow rating - rear wheel drive - dual rear wheels and the same brilliant 8 speed ZF Auto gearbox as my Jeep. The other superb feature (Unlike Jayco rigs in the same chassis) the front driver / passenger captains chairs swivel to seamlessly form part of the front lounge with the floor level staying constant right through. The build quality seems pretty good and we have been able to specify this https://www.thetford-europe.com/au/en-A ... ine-hybrid as a no cots option.
With a failing hip and about to turn 70, this will definitely be my last rooftop solar installation and hopefully the new rig will see out our wanderlust lifestyle.
https://www.nzmotorhome.co.nz/forum/vie ... it=New+Rig
Cheers
Chris
2020 Winnebago ILUKA on IVECO Daily 50 C. 1200 w Solar - 400 AH LiFePO4
3000 w inverter. 195 lt compressor fridge NZMCA # 15589
User avatar
Dot
Posts: 23478
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:12 pm
Location: Strathalbyn SA

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by Dot »

Very nice I would say Chris, never go to those shows for the very same reason :lol: :lol: Enjoy.
Queen of the Banal & OT chatter and proud of it. If it offends you then tough titty titty bang bang.
nut17
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:38 am
Location: Hastings New Zealand

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by nut17 »

With a great amount of persuasion I have managed to get them to delete the factory solar (1 x 150 watt panel) with no pre wire. I will run all my own cables from the roof. Each trio of panels will be wired in series (12 volt - 22 volt OCV) with a pretty short roof top run to where each pair of cables will go down through the roof to the the solar controllers in a cupboard directly below. The one heavy (2 gauge ) pair of wires will take the charge current directly down to the LiFePO4 pack under the seat below. A very similar set up to the caravan we currently have except that I have two pairs 200 watt panels. Most of the roof top work will be done from a mobile scaffold and my 11 year old grandson will do any of the scampering around on the actual roof top. No trips to Aussie for the big lap - would have loved to, but my darling wife Marg is now 7 years into her journey with Parkinson's Disease so local travel will be it from now on.
The pluses and minuses that add up against either the caravan / tug or motorhome and maybe "Toad" have finally tipped the balance in favour of the motorhome. Now the decision has been made, we can't wait ;)

Cheers

Chris
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
2020 Winnebago ILUKA on IVECO Daily 50 C. 1200 w Solar - 400 AH LiFePO4
3000 w inverter. 195 lt compressor fridge NZMCA # 15589
User avatar
T1 Terry
Posts: 13613
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:44 pm
Location: Mannum South Australia by the beautiful Murray River
Contact:

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by T1 Terry »

nut17 wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 3:54 am Having got our new privately imported Elddis Supreme 860 Caravan modified to suit our requirements and on the road in August 2019, we made the mistake of attending a Caravan & Motorhome Expo in Ashburton in late February. Always bearing in mind that we were going to eventually go back to a motorhome in time, we stumbled across a rig, that although a little pricey seems to represent excellent value for money. A Winnebago ILUKA fresh out of the Apollo manufacturing plant in Brisbane. We are expecting delivery late June - early July. The only mods from factory supplied NZ spec will be fitting 6 x 190 watt mono "perc' solar panels and 400 Ah LiFePO4 battery. I have ordered 8 x 200 AH Prismatic cells from a local importer who is dealing with this https://yabopower.com/index.html company in China. They will be configured into four pairs to make up the 400 AH 12 volt pack. I am waiting for the van to arrive before purchasing the panels as I cannot guarantee that the roof hatches will be in exactly the same configuration as the demonstrator that I measured up. I have purchased a pair of my favoured SRNE 40 Amp MPPT controllers (with Lithium setting) Votronic battery computer with 200 AMP shunt and a 200 amp relay to automatically disconnect load at pre set 30% SOC. I also have one of those magic black box HA02 cell equaliser devices winging its way slowly from China via aliexpress. I will wait until the fallout from Covid 19 has settled before marketing our well set up Elddis caravan.
The Winnebago ILUKA ticked most of our boxes, firstly as it is built on an IVECO Daily 50 cab / chassis and will have a 1300 kg payload and a 3000 kg tow rating - rear wheel drive - dual rear wheels and the same brilliant 8 speed ZF Auto gearbox as my Jeep. The other superb feature (Unlike Jayco rigs in the same chassis) the front driver / passenger captains chairs swivel to seamlessly form part of the front lounge with the floor level staying constant right through. The build quality seems pretty good and we have been able to specify this https://www.thetford-europe.com/au/en-A ... ine-hybrid as a no cots option.
With a failing hip and about to turn 70, this will definitely be my last rooftop solar installation and hopefully the new rig will see out our wanderlust lifestyle.
https://www.nzmotorhome.co.nz/forum/vie ... it=New+Rig
Cheers
Chris
Sounds good but I can't see the LiFeP04 cells on the web site of the supplier in China. If you plan on using an inverter bigger than 1,000w, a 200 amp contactor will weld itself shut in no time flat due to the high rush current required to charge the inverter capacitors, been there and had to replace every one we fitted.
I would go with a Victron 712BMV in preference to the Votronics battery computer, they are far more configurable, come with a 500 amp shunt and Bluetooth to your smart phone so all the info is available on one screen. They have both a programmable alarm setting and relay contact setting for SOC, battery voltage and mid pack battery voltage, so you can set a warning stage and a separate battery isolation stage for low SOC, high and low battery voltage and high and low mid pack voltage. Well worth the few extra $$ in my opinion and everyone we have installed has gained the tick of approval from the customer.
Be ultra careful connecting the terminal leads for the HA02 balancer because if you mix up any of the cables or have one accidentally touch a terminal or body negative, they suffer an internal haemorrhage and starts dragging the battery out of balance rather than balancing it.

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
User avatar
Vik351
Posts: 1224
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 3:50 pm
Location: Adelaide SA

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by Vik351 »

Fly the Terrence over :) ;)

vik... :twisted: :ugeek:
Merk 4x4 VF30 519 CDI 2020 LWB V6TD 3 ltr 6 wheeler ,Tenorite Grey ... yep, it's not white ...!!! 8-)
nut17
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:38 am
Location: Hastings New Zealand

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by nut17 »

Been busy, so a bit slow to respond Terry - Sorry. Thanks for the advice. Have fitted about a dozen Votronic Monitors now, so old habits die hard. Will definitely research the Victron monitor and shut down relay. I will catch up with my battery supplier this week and hopefully get some meaningful info from him. In the meantime the eight 150 AH cells https://www.sunderbattery.com/product/3 ... epo4-cell/ that we are currently using are performing amazingly, and their ability to perform when discharged to below 20% has impressed me. This caravan will move on to a happy new owner who will never need to plug into the grid.

The new Winnebago is still under construction and we expect delivery sometime in July. Unbelievably, Apollo will NOT supply it without the 150 watt panel fixed on the roof and wired to the BM Pro Trek / BatteryPlus35 battery management system which has unrealistic load and charge current limitations and will largely be unused when I fit the new solar / battery set up. I have found another solar supplier who has 200 watt Perc panels with the same compact dimensions as the original ones I was looking at, so will now be looking at 1200 watts on the roof ;) https://waveinverter.co.nz/shop/solar/2 ... lar-panel/

Cheers

Chris
2020 Winnebago ILUKA on IVECO Daily 50 C. 1200 w Solar - 400 AH LiFePO4
3000 w inverter. 195 lt compressor fridge NZMCA # 15589
nut17
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:38 am
Location: Hastings New Zealand

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by nut17 »

They are sold as 12 volt panels, but I am an MPPT convert and the six panels will be grouped into two strings of three panels each wired in series into an SRNE 40 AMP MPPT controller which has a dedicated Lithium charge protocol - 14.4 volts bulk and no float. I have a pair of them in our current caravan and they are brilliant.
Photo below of my current installation. The difference in output was created by having one pair of panels tilted to the sun with the other pair remaining flat.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
2020 Winnebago ILUKA on IVECO Daily 50 C. 1200 w Solar - 400 AH LiFePO4
3000 w inverter. 195 lt compressor fridge NZMCA # 15589
User avatar
T1 Terry
Posts: 13613
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:44 pm
Location: Mannum South Australia by the beautiful Murray River
Contact:

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by T1 Terry »

nut17 wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 2:38 pm They are sold as 12 volt panels, but I am an MPPT convert and the six panels will be grouped into two strings of three panels each wired in series into an SRNE 40 AMP MPPT controller which has a dedicated Lithium charge protocol - 14.4 volts bulk and no float. I have a pair of them in our current caravan and they are brilliant.
Photo below of my current installation. The difference in output was created by having one pair of panels tilted to the sun with the other pair remaining flat.
The solar in would be at around 60vdc or less depending on solar panel temperature @ roughly 20 amps, so the 6mm auto cable you are showing from the solar to the MPPT controller should be fine for that ... as long as the controller can handle over 75vdc open circuit, it could even reach 80vdc if the outside temp drops towards freezing while the sun is shining. If the model you are using is the ML2440, the specs look as though the array should be within the controllers range.
The cable you have running from the controller out to the system and battery isn't big enough. The peak current out could be as high as 50 amps, unlikely but sometimes there are freak conditions and this sort of output from the panels could try to force the controller to produce that sort of current. If you are going to split the system up between two controllers, 3 panels into each, 6 B&S (13.5mm sq) cable will be enough as long as the run is short and a separate run for each controller to the battery.

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
nut17
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:38 am
Location: Hastings New Zealand

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by nut17 »

Thanks Terry. The controllers are good for 100 v input. The output cables you can see are only 150 mm long and terminate at at a pair of 8mm terminal posts with 2g cable taking the current the remaining 1.5 metres to the battery. These https://aasolar.co.nz/product/200w-mono ... lar-panel/ are the panels used in my existing system and I have witnessed 88 volts at the controller (s) The new Winnebago will be running three of these https://waveinverter.co.nz/shop/solar/2 ... lar-panel/ in series to each of the same model controllers. I am going to initially experiment with one bank of three wired in parallel and the other three in series in an attempt to prove or dispel some conflicting opinions with the most efficient overall configuration.
At this stage Apollo in Brisbane still have not supplied a delivery date so still at the "eager anticipation" stage.

Cheers

Chris
2020 Winnebago ILUKA on IVECO Daily 50 C. 1200 w Solar - 400 AH LiFePO4
3000 w inverter. 195 lt compressor fridge NZMCA # 15589
User avatar
T1 Terry
Posts: 13613
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:44 pm
Location: Mannum South Australia by the beautiful Murray River
Contact:

Re: Changing Rigs Again !!

Post by T1 Terry »

nut17 wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:02 am Thanks Terry. The controllers are good for 100 v input. The output cables you can see are only 150 mm long and terminate at at a pair of 8mm terminal posts with 2g cable taking the current the remaining 1.5 metres to the battery. These https://aasolar.co.nz/product/200w-mono ... lar-panel/ are the panels used in my existing system and I have witnessed 88 volts at the controller (s) The new Winnebago will be running three of these https://waveinverter.co.nz/shop/solar/2 ... lar-panel/ in series to each of the same model controllers. I am going to initially experiment with one bank of three wired in parallel and the other three in series in an attempt to prove or dispel some conflicting opinions with the most efficient overall configuration.
At this stage Apollo in Brisbane still have not supplied a delivery date so still at the "eager anticipation" stage.

Cheers

Chris
To do the solar harvest comparison, you need to be able to measure the input for the day on each set up and do the test over a few days or longer.
Have you had any issues with the two controllers working together? We have finally managed to get more than one Victron MPPT controller to work on a system, but only because they are now Bluetooth and can communicate with the Victron 712BMV and each other, it appears that they take the battery voltage from the 712BMV as being the correct voltage so there is no conflict with one controller still charging while the other is testing the battery voltage.
We are in the process of installing a Victron 250/100 MPPT controller, 250vdc max open circuit and 100 amps max output. These things are huge compared to the 100/50 units and mega expensive, but still cost effective compared to 2 x 100/50 controllers if you add in the additional cabling and DC circuit breakers required if we went down that path. This converted bus will have 2kW of solar on the roof and a 12v 400Ah battery, so it will still clip the solar output at 100 amps through the middle of the day, but the full 100 amps should be available for longer each day. We used 4 B&S cable from the controller to the junction box and on to the battery so it will be interesting to see if there is any voltage/current fluctuation through the day.

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
Post Reply